Scoop seeds, sow them around the board, and outsmart the AI. A 7,000-year-old strategy game, free in your browser.
Your row is the bottom row. Click a pit to sow its seeds counter-clockwise. Land in your mancala (right) for a bonus turn. Land in an empty pit on your side to capture!
Mancala refers to a family of count-and-capture board games among the oldest in existence, with archaeological evidence from ancient Egypt and the Middle East dating back over 7,000 years. The word "mancala" comes from the Arabic naqala, meaning "to move." This free online version uses the Kalah ruleset — the most popular Western variant — where you compete against an AI opponent across three difficulty levels with no downloads or signup required.
The board has two rows of six pits plus a large scoring pit (mancala) on each end. Each pit starts with 4 seeds. On your turn, click any of your bottom pits to pick up all its seeds, then they are sown one by one into each subsequent pit moving counter-clockwise — including your mancala on the right, but skipping the opponent's mancala on the left. Two special rules make Mancala strategic: if your last seed lands in your own mancala, you get a free extra turn; if it lands in an empty pit on your side, you capture all seeds in the opposite pit plus your single seed. When one player's row is completely empty, the game ends and remaining seeds go to the player on whose side they sit. Most seeds wins.
Each pit starts with 4 seeds. Pick up all seeds from one of your pits and drop them one at a time moving counter-clockwise around the board. Include your own mancala (scoring pit) but skip your opponent's. Special rules: landing your last seed in your mancala earns a free turn; landing it in an empty pit on your side captures seeds directly opposite. When any row runs empty, remaining seeds go to the player who owns that side. Most seeds wins.
The strongest opening move is pit 3 from the right — this drops the last seed into your mancala, earning an immediate free turn. Pit 2 from the right similarly gives a free turn. Chaining free turns in the early game builds a scoring lead that is hard for the opponent to overcome. Advanced strategy also involves creating empty pits on your side to set up future captures.
Yes — Kalah with 6 pits and 4 seeds has been mathematically solved: the first player always wins with perfect play. Despite this, Mancala is still deeply engaging because human play rarely approaches perfection, and even the hard AI at depth 9 is genuinely challenging. The game's ancient staying power proves that "solvable" doesn't mean "boring."
If you enjoyed Mancala, try these: Chess · Checkers · Backgammon
Last Updated: March 2026 · whatifs.fun — Free interactive games, experiments & simulations